Remodeling and designing training gym/office

My training gym and office is located in my home. I have a split level house that was once converted into two full living spaces split between upstairs and down. For a long time we lived in the upstairs and used the downstairs for storage. Once I decided to commit to starting the business ISDS and teaching self-defense lessons I began remodeling and converting the downstairs into a training area, workout gym, and office. The process is slow since I'm doing it all myself without much disposable income to invest into materials.

The choice to run the business out of my home location is two-fold. From a business perspective I can keep overhead, fixed costs, and variable costs down working from the home location. And from a traditional Chinese kung fu perspective most kung fu teachers worked out of their homes as part of the tradition. I have been lucky enough to have space to dedicate towards the operation of ISDS.

One of the challenges I face in the operation of this type of business from a home office location is the perceptions and biases of our culture which generally expects a self-defense or martial arts school to be located in a commercial building and be filled with commercial equipment specifically marketted for the purpose. I keep these biases in mind as I work on remodeling the work space and try to work towards presenting a more "professional" image in the space.

Personally, though, I must find a balance between a sterile "professional" space and something with more personality that reflects the values and traditions I've embraced as part of the martial arts. All these considerations make the exercise of remodeling the area one that is interesting and fun.